Can anyone help me with a good training schedule? I live in phoenix, az and its hot as heck during the day, if anyone has suggestions on how they do their training scedule would be great, I am training a 5 mo old male pup if that helps, lets say how you would schedule it if you worked 9-5 or something, I hope this isnt too confusing! Ill give an example of what im trying to ask----

8 am--train inside for ---- command for -- minutes

6pm train the ------- command for -- min
7
8
9

Yes, work all day stay up all night and train. Know your problem living in Texas. If your dog stays outside and gets aclimated to the weather he will do better than the handler in the heat.But don't push to hard. If he is very high drive will work himself to hard and cause damage. Make sure you read carefully. If you can do something early before work. feed when you get home than get another session in before bed. Are you on a 2x a day feeding now?

Hi Joey: I live in Lake Elsinore Ca. and it gets blazing here in the summer! So, I have two schedules, winter it much more free to train during the day. I have two mixed terriors, one is 2 and one is 8 months old.
7:30- outside to blow off steam (have terriors very active)

8:00-every other day breakfast for them- very small- egg and veggies.
COdy the 8 month old I train him for 5 minutes at a time- his attention span is extremly short.
Just noticed how long this is, sorry. I don't like to write long posts, they are so hard to read.
Cody-= tredmil- 3 minutes (going to his treadmill on command gets a reward too.) Sometimes I do the treadmill when he is just bouncing off the wall, he is a jack russel mix.

8:10-8:15 review, after treadmill the dogs practice mat, and down, wait and come. they do this together and love to try and outrun each other when coming to me.

8:15 training, (then play for a while) take him outside alone- practice heel for about 3-5 minutes.
then play with him and run around having fun, getting on the slide, jumping on a table and getting into the down position (review)

8:30 or so depending on how things go with cody. I will be taking Bindi out and teaching her the stay command. She is older and calmer so I can keep her out for about 7-8 minutes. Important for me to always end before they get tired of the game.

3:00-3:15 before he eats dinner. Take him outside and practice again. It is usually still very hot now, so we do not play afterward, but come in and cool off.

3:20-3:30 Then its Bindi's turn again, she goes out and we practice stay again. approximately 7-8 minutes. Then I let her loose and we chase and play together.

6:15-5:30- practice again. 3 minutes or so, not more than 5.
then I release him to play on his own till just before I go walking at 6:30.

That's what I do. I also walk Bindi in the evenings from 7-8:15, when it is cooler. If it gets really hot this summer I may have to take her out early at about 7:00 am. Cody I do not take out yet, he doesn't walk correctly on a leash and just pulls and chocks himself.

I hope this helps you. I have had great success with these two dogs. THey are very quick learners. Cody is 8 months old and I have had him since he was three months old and he knows, mat(place), sit, wait, down, come. ANd I didn't rush him. Both dogs immediately go to their mat when my husband comes home from work and waits until I call them out and my husband goes into the bedroom. (this way he isn't malled when he gets home) Cody and bindi are eager to learn. I attribute that to what Ed taught me on the videos about keeping it short, simple and fun, with plenty of rewards. I go through quite a bit of dog treats.

Puppies are a blast! I hope and pray you have a great time with your puppy.
God bless you

Edited by Sharon Empson (06/04/2008 06:23 PM)
Edit reason: too long

Sharon, this is a great setup you have going. Good for you!

Joey, living in the same heat zone as you, here is my schedule, which isn't written in stone and as the summer progresses and the night and early morning heat doesn't get lower than 95-98 degrees, it's likely to change, leaving out most outside work.

6 AM: trotting alongside me while I ride a bike for about 1 mile (wouldn't recommend this for your pup yet, much too young).

6:45 AM - 7 AM: feed him breakfast.

7 AM til the sun starts searing my skin (you know what I mean): playing in the backyard, mixed with commands. During this time, I often fill the kiddy pool and let him splash around.

Throughout the day, for short intervals, training is done inside the house.

I let him outside during the day of course, and if I can handle the heat for a few minutes, we'll do some training out there. If not, no training.

Evenings (now, before the evenings get insufferably hot), we'll go outside and we'll work on something. Sometimes we'll just sit out there together, enjoying the evening.

It's not fit for man or beast here in the summer during the day, and I would not at all recommend leaving your pup outside during that time. It's 115 in the shade during the summer and I consider that dangerous for a dog, most especially a puppy. If you want to keep his drive up and ready to go when you take him outside, keep him in the air-conditioned house.

Thanks everyone!